While other MediaPost newsletters and articles remain free to all ... our new Research Intelligencer service is reserved for paid subscribers ...

Subscribe today to gain access to the every Research Intelligencer article we publish as well as the exclusive daily newsletter, full access to The MediaPost Cases, first-look research and daily insights from Joe Mandese, Editor in Chief.

Wireless Internet Access Becoming More Common

More than one-third of Internet users have connected to the Internet wirelessly at home, work or elsewhere--up from 22% two years ago, according to a new study.

A Pew Internet
Project report released today also showed that 27% of Internet users have used a laptop, cell phone or personal digital assistant (PDA) to access the Web wirelessly from someplace other than home or
work. One-fifth (20%) have gone online via wireless networks at home, double the number in January 2005.

When it comes to devices, a quarter now say they have an Internet-enabled cell phone and
13% have a PDA with a wireless Internet connection. Laptops remain the most common wireless Internet devices, with 80% owning notebook computers equipped for that purpose.

Two years ago, Pew
asked respondents only whether they had logged on to the Internet using a wireless device, without focusing on which types of hardware.

What does the typical wireless Internet user look like?
According to the Pew data, he's most likely to be a college-educated white male age 39 to 40, with a salary over $75,000.

advertisement

advertisement

Wireless Internet users are more likely to be e-mail and news junkies.
The Pew study found that 72% of wireless users check e-mail on a given day--compared to 54% of all Internet users--and 46% get news online compared to 31% of all users.

"The boundaries between
checking e-mail on a portable device for work and or personal purposes can be very blurry; having such work-driven access may foster greater frequency of personal e-mailing or other kinds of online
activities," stated the report.

The findings were based on a December 2006 survey of 2,373 adults, of which 1,623 were Internet users. Half of those received questions about wireless Internet
use.